Emotion-filled performances at fest

THE Collision Arts Asia Festival which took place at Publika in Solaris Dutamas recently also featured a 72-hour creation challenge for the artistic community to see if they can muster up a show within three days.

In an effort to raise money for underprivileged children in Cambo-dia, artistes from all walks of genres banded together to perform for free in a two-hour show which ended with a spectacular aerial and fire show from Viva Circus and Psycusix.

Spins: Hula hoop fire trick from Psycusix.

Opening the act was Hilton Lee, a male belly dancer who admitted that he had spent more time on his costume than worrying about rehearsals.

With six years of experience in his hips, Lee gave the ancient art of seduction a tribal fusion feel with his wicked gyrations.

Making a special appearance was Michelle Chang of Sutra Dance Theatre who showed her support for the arts by joining forces with four new dancers to present a whimsical piece on a love triangle.

From Olah Karma of KupuKupu Arts and Events, comes a haunting tale of infanticide told through dance. Titled Komulo Nimbus, it is a story of an insane young mother who murders her babies. But instead of being vengeful, the souls of her twin sons take pity in their mother’s suffering and refuse to go to heaven until she is healed.

Why so serious?: A dancer in Komulo Nimbus immerses himself among the audience and earns a candid camera moment with this playful fan.

This sad piece saw an unexpected lift when a member of the audience took the chance to snap a picture of himself with one of the twins midway through the show. Much to the dancer’s credit, he maintained a straight face.

Olah, who is the head of the AH! Project, which aims to raise awareness on social problems through the arts, is famed for his thought-provoking pieces.

His last performance, Medula Oblongata, at the Short and Sweet event at KLPac was about the story of how six glue sniffers came clean.

Rising from the dead to breathe life into the show was Reizo Zen, who has been impersonating Michael Jackson for the last 20 years.

Zen had started life as a clown before developing an interest in mime and later, impersonation.

A cry: An Iranian student dances the part of the insane mother in Olah Karma’s Komulo Nimbus.

Fans of MJ can reconnect with the Gloved One through Zen in Facebook.

As this was a charity show, Mr Banana, a clown from Canada, also did his bit to drum up donations by passing his hat around.

Unperturbed by the lukewarm response, he pleaded with one generous member of the audience who was watching the show at the upper floor to take out his wallet and throw him RM10. To watch more of Mr Banana’s antics, catch him on myspace.com/mrbananashow.

Closing the Collision Arts Festival was Viva Circus who performed a series of pole dances and aerial stunts.

At one point, hearts almost came to a stop when an aerialist went into a free fall only to be stopped at the last minute by a series of clever knots she had made in the folds of hanging silk.

Credit also goes to Psycusix, who had the crowd moving back to ensure that they would not be razed by the flames of their fire show extravaganza.

To warm up, they showed off their arsenal of tricks which included contact juggling, poi and wand levitation.

Viva Circus began humbly as a pole dancing outfit four years ago. Over time, Vivian Lea, the founder, expanded the group’s show repertoire to include aerial artistes and give budding local acrobats a platform to show off their talents.